Israel: Allegations of election fraud trigger investigation

 

TT

 

Published 10:29

 

Noam Sohlberg examines ballots. Image taken during the election campaign earlier in October. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP/TT

Following the election in Israel, the security service Shin Bet is set to investigate reports of fraud. Noam Sohlberg, chairman of the Central Elections Committee, cites “serious suspicions” regarding attempts at foreign interference.

It is Sohlberg—himself a settler in the occupied West Bank—who has ordered the investigation.

“Serious suspicions have been brought to my attention regarding improper influence involving foreign funding,” he writes, according to Israeli media.

According to reports, the allegations suggest that countries such as Qatar and Turkey financed efforts to secure more votes for Arab-Israeli parties. These parties performed very strongly in Tuesday’s election.